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Tag: AFP

  • South Korea Poised to Ban App Store Payment Monopolies

    South Korea Poised to Ban App Store Payment Monopolies

    South Korea is poised to become the first country to ban Apple and Google from locking developers into the use of their payment systems.

    Apple and Google are both facing pressure over their respective app stores, and especially over the fact that they try to force developers to use their payment systems exclusively. Doing so ensures developers continue to pay the companies the 30% commission they charge for apps, in-app purchases and ongoing services. Both companies are facing lawsuits in the US, but South Korea is set to take even more drastic action.

    According to AFP, South Korea’s National Assembly is set to vote on a bill — the “Anti-Google Law” — that would force Apple and Google to allow users to choose which payment service to use when making purchases.

    “This law will certainly set a precedent for other countries, as well as app developers and content creators worldwide,” Kang Ki-hwan, Korea Mobile Internet Business Association, told AFP.

    If the bill passes, it will likely encourage countries around the world to take up similar measures.

  • US Judge Shoots Down Patents For AI ‘Inventors’

    US Judge Shoots Down Patents For AI ‘Inventors’

    A US judge has dealt a blow to those wanting to register patents on behalf of artificial intelligence (AI).

    AI is making leaps and bounds, in terms of sophistication. Proponents in the US, as well as Australia, have even attempted to file patents on behalf of inventor AIs.

    Unlike a recent ruling in Australia, a US judge has ruled an AI doesn’t meet the criteria for holding a patent — at least not yet.

    “As technology evolves, there may come a time when artificial intelligence reaches a level of sophistication that might satisfy accepted meanings of inventorship,” District court judge Leonie Brinkema said in the ruling, according to International Business Times.

    “But that time has not yet arrived and, if it does, it will be up to Congress to decide how, if at all, it wants to expand the scope of patent law.”

    The decision was in response to an attempt by Stephen Thaler to register patents on behalf of his DABUS machine. His attorney, Ryan Abbott, said they would appeal the decision.

    “We believe that listing an AI as an inventor is consistent with both the language and purpose of the US Patent Act,” Abbott told AFP.

    “This decision would prohibit protection for AI-generated inventions and it diverges from the recent findings of the Federal Court of Australia.”

  • Giant Anteaters Kill Two Hunters In Brazil

    Giant anteaters in Brazil killed two hunters in separate incidents, according to a research paper released online that will be published in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine this December.

    Giant anteaters, which have been described as long-nosed, hairy mammals, are not known for aggressive behavior toward people, and are considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conversation of Nature (IUCN), due largely to deforestation and the encroaching of human settlements on their territory. If they have poor vision and are frightened, however, they may defend themselves with front claws as long as pocketknives.

    “Both were farmers, were hunting and were attacked by wounded or cornered animals,” lead author Vidal Haddad of the Botucatu School of Medicine at Sao Paulo State University told AFP.

    The first case, which occurred in 2012, details a 47-year-old man who was hunting with his two sons and dog when he came across the giant anteater in northern Brazil. The hunter did not shoot at the animal but approached it with his knife drawn. The anteater stood on its hind legs and grabbed the hunter, causing deep puncture wounds in the man’s upper arms and thighs. He bled to death at the scene.

    The second case involved a 75-year-old man, who was killed by the anteater when the animal used its front claws to puncture femoral arteries in his groin and thigh.

    “These injuries are very serious and we have no way of knowing whether it is a defense behavior acquired by the animals,” said Haddad.

    He added that such attacks are rare but they are important to show that people need to give wild animals plenty of space.

    The diet of anteaters consists of ants and termites—their long claws are used to dig into anthills—and when a territorial dispute occurs between anteaters, they vocalize, swat, and even ride on the backs of their opponents.

    Overall, their numbers have declined 30 percent in the past decade due to habitat loss, road kills, hunting, wildfires, and burning of sugarcane plantations, according to the IUCN.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons